Puzzle Pieces
by Amaranth O'Riley
Summary: It takes time, but each Glee member slowly learns the real reason behind Kurt's transfer to Dalton. Drabble series, Klaine, one-sided Kurtofsky
1. Mercedes

**Mercedes**

Mercedes knew something was up. Karofsky's been singling Kurt out this year, and she initially can't figure out why. Then, on that goddamn _date_ with Kurt and Blaine—despite Kurt's assurances that she's not a third wheel, Blaine is "just a friend", she knows it's a date—she spots Karofsky across the restaurant with some blond Cheerio. He's looking over at their table unflinchingly, but doesn't notice that Mercedes has spotted him. At first, she thinks that murderous glare he's sporting is directed at Kurt, but then Blaine shifts in his seat and Karofsky's eyes follow. Mercedes does a double-take. She looked again, but the jock's eyes were clearly focused on the dark-haired boy next to Kurt. She noticed Karofsky clenching his fist around his glass, his knuckles white. _Honestly, _she thought, _homeboy was __**this**__ homophobic, to the point where he couldn't bear to see two men sitting next to each other? _After all, Blaine wasn't obviously gay. If she hadn't seen those smitten looks directed at Kurt, she may have gone after him herself. So it made no sense that Karofsky reacted this much. For all he knew, Blaine was straight, and this was just a casual dinner between three people.

As Kurt and Blaine giggled about some Broadway musical, Mercedes watched Karofsky. His eyes hardened every time the two touched. He was blatantly ignoring his date now, totally fixated on their table. Ten minutes into her observations, Mercedes saw why. Blaine was in the middle of telling a story about Kurt, something embarrassing he had done last weekend. Kurt groaned and blushed, hiding his face in his hands. Blaine chuckled warmly and casually draped an arm around the smaller boy's shoulders.

The majority of the restaurant jumped when the glass shattered. Kurt and Blaine, too interested in each other, continued their conversation. But every other patron's eyes turned to Karofsky's table, where the glass he had been clutching in his large fist had literally exploded all over the table. A waiter come over, wiping it up, and people gradually returned to their conversations. But when Karofsky glanced back up at their table, the look in his eyes had changed. He looked upset. Angry. _Jealous._

And that's when it all made sense. Karofsky's vendetta against Kurt. How jumpy Kurt became every time he spotted a flash of red in the hall. Karofsky was gay. Karofsky liked Kurt.

Dave Karofsky was in _love _with Kurt Hummel.

Holy mother of Jesus.

Almost immediately, Karofsky stood up sharply, his date following confusedly behind. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders loosely and walked straight towards them.

"Hey fairy, having fun with your boyfriend?"

Kurt winced and paled. Mercedes was acutely aware of Karofsky's fingers brushing lightly against the counter-tenor's neck, hand lingering on his skin for just slightly too long. But then, without another word,, he dragged the leggy blonde outside. Kurt shook slightly in his seat, still white as a ghost. Blaine glared after Karofsky, but his hand squeezed Kurt's shoulder.

So. Karofsky liked Kurt. And, judging by Blaine's expression, he knew. There must have been more to the story, but Mercedes was hesitant to ask. Kurt had a look of utter terror on his face, and seemed frozen in place. Mercedes, stunned with her newfound knowledge, found herself immobile as well. Only Blaine kept calm. Fishing around in his wallet, he pulled out three crisp twenties—a considerable amount more than they had spent—and threw them down on the table. Carefully grasping Kurt's arm, he led him out of the booth, gesturing for Mercedes to follow. They piled into the car silently, and Blaine said softly that he'd take Kurt home first. The smaller boy simply nodded, staring blankly out of the window. When they got to his house, Blaine shifted the car in park and jumped out, holding Kurt as he walked him to the door. They talked for a few minutes, Kurt shaking his head and crossing his arms tightly to his chest. They hugged, and Kurt went inside. Blaine jogged quickly back to his car, and made his way to the Jones residence in silence. Once there, he sighed and turned to Mercedes.

"So I take it you realize what's going on."

Mercedes wasn't sure what to say.

"I-I just can't believe it. He's been beating Kurt up for years. I figured he was just homophobic..."

"He probably is," Blaine said, looking up thoughtfully, "it does happen, you know. He realized he was gay, knew people wouldn't accept him, and began hating who he was. I'm sure that's why he hates Kurt. He's not at all ashamed of who he is."

"He doesn't hate him though, does he?"

Blaine frowned.

"I really don't think I should say anymore. I know you're his best friend, but he really doesn't want to talk about this."

Mercedes nodded, desperately wanting more information. Instead, she opened the door, smiling at Blaine.

"Thanks," she said, "for being such a good friend to my boy."

"I could say the same to you," Blaine grinned.

She sent one last smile to Blaine before exiting the car and entering her immediately, her pocket buzzed.

**From: Kurt Hummel**

_**I'm sorry I freaked out back there, Merce. He just really pisses me off.**_

Mercedes sent back a text immediately.

**To: Kurt Hummel**

_**No problem, baby. BTW, Blaine's a total babe. ;)**_ **_Plus he totally digs you._**

As she slid her phone back into her pocket, she smiled. Kurt definitely had a great ally in Blaine, and he'd eventually begin to feel better. If he didn't want to talk about this yet, she wouldn't push him. She wouldn't tell the rest of the Glee club, and she definitely wouldn't tell Kurt.

When he was ready, he'd tell her everything.


	2. Tina

Bah, I'm not a fan of this one. I started writing Santana's, then deleted it and was halfway through Puck's before I realized I didn't like it. So I'm trying Tina now, and I'm not sure about how it turned out.

Also, I apologize for my overzealous use of italics.

**Tina**

She found out by accident. It was totally wrong and against her moral code, but she figured something was up with Karofsky. And _she _wanted to be the one to find out what it was.

She was the best person for the job, anyway. Tina had experience with not being noticed. And so she made it her own personal mission to spy on Karofsky, to figure out what the _hell_ was going on with Kurt. The other day, when he had shoved him face-first into the lockers, had been pretty bizarre. Typical Glee Club bullying involved slushy facials, not a face full of metal. So Tina began watching the pair, carefully analyzing their interactions. It shocked her how bad Kurt was being harassed. Several times a day he was thrown into lockers or walls. His possessions were yanked from his hands and tossed in the air. Once, Karofsky had slammed him into the lockers so hard he started bleeding, and she dropped her spy-work to help him get cleaned up.

So it came as a shock to her when she really deduced what Karofsky's problem was. She wasn't even intentionally looking this time, just pulling her books out of her locker before class. She slammed her locker and turned, stopping when she spotted Karofsky making his way towards her friend. Kurt didn't even notice him until he shut the door of his locker, but his face turned white almost immediately. His lips moved, saying something to the jock, but he didn't back down. Karofsky raised his hand, and Tina momentarily panicked, thinking he was about to punch Kurt. Instead, he prodded one finger into Kurt's chest. He ran it down Kurt's body, stopping just above the button to his jeans. Tina's jaw dropped. She had used a move similar to that on Mike many times before, when trying to seduce him. She would run her hand down his chest and abs, glancing up at him through her eyelashes. And this looked no different, except that Kurt was obviously not a willing participant. Karofsky's hand stopped, and he grabbed something from Kurt's hand. The jock leaned down, face inches away from Kurt's face, and said something before straightening up and walking away.

She almost blew her cover right then. It took all of her strength to not jump Karofsky and beat the living shit out of him. But she turned once more to her fellow Glee-clubber, who looked near tears. Mr. Schuester approached him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and leading him away. Kurt's body shook as he followed their teacher to Principal Sylvester's office.

Tina stood stunned for a few moments after tried to convince herself that she was wrong, Karofsky wasn't _really _touching Kurt, not in _that _way. But that motion, that hard look in his eyes, the set of his jaw...

Shit.

It all made sense now. Kurt's jumpiness every time a locker door slammed. His face paling when a letterman's jacket crossed his vision. How he flinched when somebody touched him.

Kurt wasn't just being bullied, he was being sexually harassed. And he was terrified.

Shit shit _shit._

She wanted to tell someone, _needed _to tell someone, but couldn't bring herself to betray Kurt like that. Obviously this whole situation was humiliating to him, and she didn't want to embarrass him in front of all of is friends like that. So she vowed to keep this a secret. For Kurt. She wouldn't tell. But she'd try to be a great friend to him right now.

He needed it.


	3. Artie

**Artie**

Artie sees the whole thing.

He was halfway to physics when he realized that he didn't have his textbook. He cursed inwardly as he realized where it was—in the football locker room, completely on the opposite side of the school. This would've been irritating for anyone, but when you had to navigate the crowded halls in a wheelchair, it made any journey over twice as long. So he sent Brittany ahead (how she managed to place into Honors Physics, he had no idea) with strict instructions to tell Mrs. Olin that he'd be late. He turned his chair around expertly and wheeled his way to the locker room.

Ten minutes later, his locker was open. He searched through his duffel bag, littered with pieces of his uniform and crumpled papers. At the very bottom, underneath a sweater that smelled like it hadn't been washed in a good three weeks, lay his textbook. He pulled it out and shoved his bag back in his locker, slamming it shut. As he turned to wheel out, the door slammed open, hard. (If he had had the use of his legs, the resulting jump would have propelled him into the ceiling, for sure.) Karofsky stormed in, stomping over to his own locker and throwing it open. Luckily, Artie's locker was on the other side of the room, so he was safely obscured by the middle section of lockers. Since he had joined football, most of the jocks went easy on the "crip kid". But Karofsky looked unnaturally angry, and Artie didn't want to risk a beatdown.

Naturally he was relatively surprised when Kurt came storming in a few moments later. Karofsky was **not** a person to mess with, but Kurt looked angrier than Artie had ever seen him. His face was blotched red, and he advanced upon Karofsky with a fire in his eyes that would have made Puckerman back down. Artie wheeled his chair closer to the divider, daring to peek around the corner only slightly. Kurt was yelling at Karofsky, and the close distance between the two was slightly frightening. Karofsky sneered at him, continuing to throw his possessions into his bag. Artie was kind of impressed with Kurt, to tell the truth. Karofsky was easily twice his weight, and probably could have floored the smaller boy with a single swing.

So when Karofsky slammed his locker door shut and moved closer, Artie was prepared to wheel himself in between the two. He knew it would probably result in intense pain, but Kurt had enough shit thrown at him daily. He didn't need to wind up beaten to a pulp. Before he could do anything, though, Karofsky had grabbed Kurt's face and smashed their lips together.

And time stopped.

Artie's jaw dropped, and he would've swore on his life (on his mom's life, on Brittany's life, on his _X-box!)_ that the scene unraveled in slow motion. Kurt stood rooted to his spot, absolutely frozen. Karofsky's lips moved against his slowly, and one hand grasped at Kurt's hair. He heard Karofsky whimper a bit right before he pulled a way. His eyes were unreadable as they zeroed in on Kurt's face. And then he moved forward _again_, going in for more. But Kurt snapped back to reality, shoving against the taller boy (_hard,_ apparently, as Karofsky stumbled back a few feet) and bringing his hands up to his face, staring in shock. Karofsky's forehead wrinkled, and he looked _upset_ as he took in Kurt's terrified expression. Finally, he slammed his fists against the lockers with an angry sound and turned on his heel.

Kurt didn't move, for a few moments. He stood right where Karofsky left him, hands curled over his face. With a heaving sob, he fell back into the lockers and slid to the ground, burying his face in his hands.

"Kurt?" Artie said weakly, wheeling into sight.

Kurt looked up swiftly, tears welling up in his eyes.

"A-Artie? Did you..."

Artie nodded, moving closer.

"Dude, are you—are you ok?"

Kurt bit his bottom lip and shook his head swiftly.

"Do you want me to get someone?"

Kurt jolted up.

"No!" he said, angrily, "Nobody needs to know about this, alright?"

"But—"

"Artie, please." Kurt looked at him, eyes red and chin quivering, "Please—don't tell anybody about this, ok? I—I need to think."

Artie nodded.

"I won't, Kurt."

Kurt nodded swiftly.

"Good," he said, eyes becoming unfocused, "Good."

With that, he rose to his feet stumbled over to the mirrors, nervously fixing his hair. He wiped at his lips roughly, as if trying to get rid of the taste of Karofsky's kiss. Apparently satisfied with his appearance, he headed towards the exit.

"Hey, Kurt?"

The boy froze, one hand on the door handle, the other wrapped around his abdomen.

"You should probably go home. I'll tell Mr. Schuester you came down with a cold or something. Just—go take a nap or something, ok?"

Kurt nodded, as if contemplating the idea.

"Yeah..." He said, voice soft and unattached, "Yeah, I think I'll go home. I need—I need to brush my teeth or something."

He opened the door, stepping out gracefully. His head turned, slightly, and his conflicted eyes met Artie's concerned ones.

"Thanks," he said, before turning and disappearing from sight.


	4. Puck

**Puck**

He's had his suspicions for a while. Puck's a lot more observant than people would think, and he bides most of his time observing McKinley students. Sometimes he's just wondering which one of the Cheerios would be most likely to slide into bed with him that weekend. But sometimes, he's just trying to figure people out. He knows most people in Lima keep secrets. It's a small town, and nobody wants to fess up to being different. So he knows that there's people hiding things, people pretending to be something that they're not. Because high school is scary, and nobody wants to be an outcast.

Which is why it doesn't really come as a surprise when he figures out that Karofsky's kinda into dudes. It's in the locker room after a particularly grueling practice, and everyone's just lounging around in their underwear, trying to let the sweat dry before they get dressed. Puck's stark naked (he's proud of his body, damnit, and is totally cool just letting it all hang out) and leaning back against the cool metal lockers when Karofsky comes in. He sees the hockey players eyes scan down his body, and his pants twitch a bit. Puck raises an eyebrow, but Karofsky turns and heads for the showers without meeting his eyes. He doesn't say anything, of course. He knows he's hot and most of the guys here would fuck him in a heartbeat if they got the chance.

It's not till Hummel joins the football team that Puck realizes that Karofsky is legitimately gay (or bisexual, at the very least). Kurt realizes that the other guys are uncomfortable with his flamboyant self, so he changes in the corner quickly, not looking at anyone else and rushing out as soon as he zips up his skinny jeans. Naturally, he can't see Karofsky's gaze. But Puck does, and it freaks him out a little. As Kurt slides off his pants, Karofsky practically leers at him. He bends over a bit, and Puck glances down to see how other areas of Karofsky's body are reacting. He nearly drops his jaw when he realizes that the jock has a pretty serious erection. He stares for a second before it hits him, that he's looking at another dude's _dick,_ and he looks away quickly. Kurt's dressed now, in some shiny silver button-down and jeans that have got to be cutting off circulation to his legs. He slams his locker shut, slides his bag over his shoulder, and saunters out. Karofsky's eyes follow him, and Puck totally sees the darkening of his face before the dude takes off for the showers.

_Shit._

Puck never would've suspected that Dave Karofsky would be into Kurt Hummel. He kinda figured the dude, when he finally came out, would hook up with some athletic dude from a different school, and Hummel's pretty much a fairy. But then again, Kurt does wear some pretty form-fitting clothes, and Puck _knows_ that it's always the girls in the tight skirts and sweaters that he checks out. And that's all it is, right? Karofsky's only staring at Hummel's ass because he wears tight jeans and shit.

But then he starts seeing stuff more often. Like when Karofsky and Azimo shove Hummel into lockers and throw him in dumpsters, Karofsky's hands linger a bit too long. He pushes up against his chest and grabs him around the hips. It's way creepy, but Puck doesn't really know if he should do something about it. And then he gets stuck in juvie and literally _can't _do anything about it, unless he wants his waffles stolen again.

When he gets out, though, he notices changes. The rest of the Glee Club isn't really getting bullied anymore. It's turned into the Kurt Hummel Bullying Show, Karofsky's the ringleader. Kurt gets shoved into lockers on an hourly basis, and sweet Jewish Jesus, that's gotta bruise like crazy. He gets taunted more often, and Karofsky's taken to standing way to close to him.

He knows something's really gone down when he sees Karofsky storm out of the locker room looking near tears one day. He stares after him confused for a few moments before the door swings open again. Kurt stumbles out, face pale and eyes wide. He heads the other direction, practically flying down the hall and through the front doors. Puck squints after him for a moment. Rehearsal started in five minutes, and Hummel had just taken off. He's pretty sure the kid has never missed a glee practice, like, ever, so the fact that he just left without a word was pretty bizarre.

So he looks curiously at Artie when he comes in and informs Mr. Schue that Kurt wasn't feeling well. He knows there's something else there, but Artie looks straight ahead without providing anymore information.

The next day, Puck's standing in front of his locker with his arm wrapped around Santana when he hears a slam and turns just in time to see Hummel crumple to the floor. Karosky's walking away from him, looking back with a smirk on his face. But when he turns to face forward the smirk fades, and he looks almost...sad? He doesn't really have time to think about it much, because Santana reaches up press her lips against his, and he can't resist the ladies.

He's half-asleep the night after the wedding. when he figures it out. He starts picturing that day outside the locker room. Karofsky, running out with red eyes and clenched fists. And Kurt, following shortly after looking terrified and holding a hand to his lips. _His lips._

He sits up straight, and weird shit keeps coming together. Karofsky's increased vendetta against Kurt, Kurt's withdrawal from everybody, the damned locker room...

He doesn't even have time to do anything about it, because the next day Kurt waltzes into the choir room and announces in a shaky voice that he's leaving, Karofsky's coming back and so Hummel's transferring. Everyone protests, Finn looking pissed as hell and Mercedes looking like someone just killed her dog. Schuester looks depressed, and Rachel starts freaking out over broken harmonies or some shit. Kurt walks out without another word, and Puck has half a mind to storm after Karofsky with a baseball bat. But he's still on probation, damnit, and he really doesn't want to end up in jail for killing the douche.

So he pretty much develops his own personal vendetta against the dude, and makes sure to tackle him in practice whenever possible (even though that's totally not his job and he's pretty sure Beiste is starting to catch on). And he may have accidentally shouldered him into walls a few times, and his foot _might_ have ended up getting in Karofsky's walking path on a few occasions, but the dude deserves it.

It's two weeks after Kurt leaves when he catches the bastard alone in the locker room. He marches up to him, arms crossed over his chest.

"What the hell do you want, Puckerman?"

Puck glares at him for a moment.

"I know what you did," he states. He's kinda hoping his vague statement gets Karofsky to admit to something, because the dude really isn't too bright. He's rewarded when Karofsky stiffens and meets his gaze, fear forming in his eyes.

"The fag told you?" his voice croaks on the slur.

"Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe I didn't know a thing, and _you_ just implied that there's something going on. So tell me what the hell you did to him."

"I didn't do shit, man! Same stuff you used to pull, dumpsters and shit."

Puck growls and punches the locker in front of Karofsky's head.

"You know that's bull, man! I've never seen the kid so terrified before! Nothing I did ever affected him like that. What the fuck did you do?"

Karofsky scoffs at him.

"I don't need this," he says, grabbing his jacket and turning towards the door.

Puck waits until his hand is on the doorknob before speaking again.

"You kissed him, didn't you?"

Karofsky freezes. When he turns, he looks furious.

"Look, Puckerman. _He _kissed _me, _alright?"

"Really?" Puck raises an eyebrow, "Cause I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be into you."

Karofsky's face reddens.

"Let's face it, dude. He's kinda out of your league."

That does it for Karofsky. He storms back over to Puck and raises a fist, slamming it into the wall just to the left of his skull.

"I swear to God, Puckerman, if you tell anyone about this-"

"Stop messing with the Glee kids, got it? No more slushie facials, no more dumpster dives, no locker shoves. Don't even _look_ at them funny anymore. And if you ever see Kurt again, you _will_ apologize to him. He's a cool dude, he doesn't deserve your shit."

Karofsky backs up a bit.

"And I swear, Karofsky, if you do anything to get on my bad side ever again, I'll out you to the entire school, got it? The entire school."

Karofsky nods slightly, and Puck takes it as an excuse to leave.

"Puckerman? How's—how's he doing?"

"Not that it's any of your business," Puck says, looking over his shoulder, "but I'm pretty sure he's actually happy at Dalton. And I'm pretty sure he might have a boyfriend. Who's way cooler than you, by the way."

Karofsky looks devastated, and Puck takes off before the dude starts crying.

'Cause he just can't deal with tears, dude.


	5. Brittany

So this one's a little bit different, but I feel it's more true to Brittany's character. She doesn't _find out_, exactly, but I really don't feel like she's smart enough to realize what happened. It's also pretty short, for which I apologize.

**Brittany**

Brittany doesn't really think Dave Karofsky is cute, but she really likes making out and he's always willing. So she lets him drag her into a bedroom at Santana's party, even though his kisses are messy and his hands kinda hurt when he gropes her. She wraps her arms around him as he drags her to the bed, and he falls on top of her, tongue all over her mouth. Everything's going as normal—he reaches up to wrap a beefy hand around her breast, she links her leg around his waist. But then he stops and pulls away a little bit.

"What's wrong, Davie?" she asks, smiling up through her eyelashes.

"You made out with the fag last year, right?" he has a weird expression on her face, and Brittany feels confused.

"Who?"

"Hummel." Brittany still doesn't understand, so Dave heaves a sigh and breathes, "Kurt."

And Brittany finally gets who he's talking about. Her eyes light up and her smile widens.

"Kurt!" she squeals, "Totally. He's a really good kisser. But I don't think he likes being called the f-word, you know. It hurts his feelings."

"Yeah, whatever. What...what was it like?"

Brittany cocks her head to the side and thinks. Dave slides off her a bit, and she sits up a bit.

"It was nice," she says, finally, "He was super-sweet. And his skin is really soft."

Dave groans a little bit, and he looks sad. So Brittany wraps her arms around his shoulders in a comforting hug. She kisses him on the cheek and stands up.

"He tasted like strawberries."

She stands up to leave. Dave really isn't paying attention to her, and she's getting bored. But she notices fifteen minutes later when he finally leaves the room, and briefly wonders what he was doing in there alone for so long. But then Santana wraps an arm around her waist and they start making out. Brittany really likes making out.


	6. Mike

_'ve been neglecting this story, and I'm sorry! The hiatus practically killed me, but now that I have beautiful wonderful new Glee episodes to look forward to, I'm feeling so much more inspired! This one is quite short, however, just because I didn't feel like it needed anything more._

_Also, I know someone reviewed an earlier chapter saying they were disappointed that nobody was exactly helping Kurt once they found out. I feel ya, believe me. But I don't really want to stray from canon, and honestly, I see a lot of the glee clubbers just ignoring it, thinking it's "not that big of a deal"._

_Lastly, this chapter is totally and completely dedicated to _treppie_, who left me a marvelous review on LJ that made me feel all warm and goeey inside. :)_

**Mike Chang**

The thing about Mike Chang was that nobody really noticed him. Before he joined glee, he barely spoke to anyone. He got good grades, he played on the football team, and he hung out with the popular crowd. But he was quiet, and nobody really singled him out for anything. He got through the first two years of high school by following around the older football players. Then he had joined glee, and people actually started to notice him. Rachel complimented his dance moves, Finn clapped him on the back after rehearsal, and Mr. Schue pulled him aside to talk about dance scholarships. But as soon as he stepped outside of that choir room, he was invisible again.

The thing about being invisible is that you often overhear things you shouldn't. Mike had been walking past the teachers' lounge when Ms. Pillsbury screamed at his choir teacher for being a slut. He had overheard enough of Coach Sylvester's schemes that he forever vowed to stay at least thirty feet away from her. But he never heard anything atypical of high school drama and teachers' problems. Until one Tuesday, when he bent down to tie his shoe underneath the main staircase.

He had just barely knelt down when he heard an unfamiliar voice call out, "Excuse me?"

He looked around for a moment, but didn't see anyone who appeared to be addressing him. Then he heard another voice, one he was quite familiar with, thanks to the locker room.

"Hey lady boys. This your boyfriend, Kurt?"

_Shit._

Mike glanced up, taking notice of the three boys on the landing above. Karofsky appeared to be ignoring the other two, but Kurt and some kid in a dorky blazer walked after him.

"Kurt and I would like to talk to you about something," said the preppy boy.

"I gotta go to class."

_Shit, dudes, get outta there._

"Kurt told me what you did."

_Wait, what?_

"Oh yeah, what's that?"

"You kissed me."

Mike rose so fast he nearly slammed into the wall.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

The boy Mike didn't know was saying something else now, but Mike was craning to look upward, watching Karofsky. If this got too intense, he'd definitely have to break in. No way in _hell_ was he gonna let Karofsky hit Kurt when he had the chance to stop it. But then Karofsky shoved at the blazered guy, grunting.

"Do not mess with me!"

Kurt shoved him away, and Karofsky stormed down the stairs. Mike had to jump back a few feet to avoid becoming an Asian pancake. Karofsky didn't even glance at him, but Mike could see the panic in his face. He looked back up at the stairs, but Kurt had disappeared. The other kid was still leaning up against the wall, but he soon disappeared from sight.

Mike leans back against the tile, jaw open. He had never thought _Dave Karofsky,_ of all people, would be gay. But then, the dude never had a girlfriend. In fact, Mike didn't think he'd ever seen Karofsky even _look_ at a girl with interest. He can't believe he didn't catch on sooner. He hadn't even thought twice when Kurt had skipped the after-school glee practice yesterday, even though he had been totally fine when the girls performed during lunch period. He hadn't even wondered why Karofsky's vendetta against Kurt had grown so much since last year. And now, as he thought back, he couldn't believe he _hadn't_ noticed. But then, Kurt's been keeping to himself the past few months, and he and Mike had never been close.

He's still leaning against the wall when blazer-boy struts down the stairs, followed closely by Kurt, who's clutching his back with white knuckles, but still has a hesitant smile on his face. And Mike figures that maybe he'll be ok. He's got Mercedes, and he's got Finn and his dad and Carole, and the rest of glee club, and now this new kid. Mike doesn't really feel like it's his place to say anything, anyway. The two were civil, but they weren't exactly friends. So he'll keep an eye on Karofsky, maybe give Finn a heads-up if he does anything else.

It's really all he can do, anyway.


End file.
